Family Honor
Deuteronomy 21: 1-9 & 15-23
The Great Covenant
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . Max
A Forsythe
Introduction:
One thing that is interesting about the law of God, in the context of the
Ten Commandments, is the system wide relationships of the whole, which make it
sometimes difficult to separate out exactly which of the Ten Commandments is
being expanded and commented upon. While
Dr Wright leaves this section out of his sequential outline of Moses’
systematic commentary, we sense a mixture of commentary on the fifth and sixth
commandments. Dr Kline observes: “This chapter concludes the
commandments concerned with governmental authority. Since all such authority is an extension of the authority of
the individual family head, these final stipulations on this subject
appropriately deal with the exercise of authority within the home. There are sanctions imposed to enforce this authority and
there are regulations to insure a just exercise of it.” Dr Brown describes this section as outlining
appropriately the ministry of the state in five classes of particular distress
and sorrow: “The distress concerns a murdered man,
a captured woman, a deprived son, a depraved son and an executed criminal.”
Did you hear that phrase, “the
ministry of the state” that I used? There
is a lawful reason within the Great Covenant for certain authority to be given
to the state – and that is to minister through the law for an immediate
judgment in certain circumstances that cannot and ought not to be put off until
the Lord Jesus comes again in glory and the resultant great day of judgment
arrives. I have lived long enough
and experienced enough to understand that there are some sinful things in life
that we are not allowed to address because the judgment is reserved for the Lord
alone. However, there are other
sinful things that need to be dealt with immediately in a court of law.
I remember counseling a couple of
rape victims who were still profoundly affected by their tragic experience
decades later. Even if the rapist
had been apprehended and properly executed – the sorrow of that sin continued
to weigh down and affect the victim. It
is the same with children who are abused in that abominable way, young lives are
twisted and torn and unfortunately changed forever. Thankfully, career criminals still appreciate the law’s
regard in these particular cases and they very often go out of their way to
bring about a just and final punishment for such socially condemned creatures,
when the legal system has lost its nerve in not dealing with any finality.
That being said – you can guess
my attitude on capital punishment whenever and wherever that punishment is
allowed, encouraged and demanded in the Law of God. But remember there are still real limitations to that
punishment as we have seen and will see in the scriptural allowance for justice
to be served. Thus we may take the
sanctions and just exercise of Dr Kline and apply it to the four cases presumed
by Moses to be particularly difficult within the context of family law, leaving
only the captured woman out of our discussion today, since we covered that case
in the context of just warfare last week.
Old
Covenant Milieu:
In a jaded culture where video death and destruction is commonly mirrored
in random acts of violence on the streets, we have as a people lost the
understanding of the purpose and meaning of this text.
Certainly, we are appalled at the death and destruction accomplished in
broad daylight in downtown New York City, however, we as a country continue to
tolerate the daily execution of almost twice more the number who died in the
twin towers, in the abortuaries of this once fair land.
Do we or can we even truly sense and comprehend the scandal of one single
solitary death in Israel in these first nine verses of our chapter today?
Every once in a while we read of
bodies being found dumped in the rural areas of our state. Just as the Lord voiced to Cain in the first book of the
Bible, “the voice of your brother’s blood cries
out to Me from the ground”, so should we understand the same
context today in this passage. The
loss of every innocent life demands atonement in one form or another.
And while a court of judgment is given the discretion to determine guilt,
innocence and punishment, the death cannot be ignored.
Dr Brown outlines, “the unusual procedure
to be adopted [which] emphasizes five
important themes – responsibility, solidarity, substitution, confession and
forgiveness.”
“one of the
nearby towns must take full responsibility for the ceremonial cleansing of
the people”
“when the elders
seek the Lord’s cleansing they ask that all Israel will be cleansed”
“the offender
cannot be found but atonement must be made.”
“necessary
washing, the plea for forgiveness, purging of guilt and doing what is right
in the eyes of the Lord are all part of the nature and vocabulary of
atonement.”
“the cleansing is immediate and complete … ‘if we confess
our sins’ God is ‘faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify
us from all unrighteousness’.”
Certainly, we do not sacrifice a
young heifer whenever a body is found in our day and time – but do we mourn
the death and sense the increasing loss of personal security that the crime
implies? Even more, do we speak up
about the sanctity of human life when opportunity allows?
At the very least let us accept the challenge of these verses to
re-sensitize our personal morality at this point – the sanctity of life.
And even as we noted earlier – whenever society cannot pass along the
appropriate punishment for such a heinous crime, we must still demonstrate some
public repentance that such things can happen in our own neighborhoods.
The next section in verses
fifteen to seventeen is related to the ancient social security system designed
by God. This system appointed at
least a double portion of inheritance to the eldest son so that he could provide
for and continue to care for his mother. While
social commentators may deride and condemn such a covenant proposal in our day,
it is well to remember that is has only been a generation or two since such
responsibilities were negated by our wholesale adoption of the New Deal programs
meant to guarantee personal security. Time
was when extended families and servants could lovingly care for one another
without outside help. The New Deal
and related government programs made it impossible to maintain anything like the
traditional economical service providers.
When my mother was unable to
continue in her home alone, I searched for several weeks until I found a widow
who had earned her income by caring for women in my mother’s condition.
When I talked with the lady on the phone, I had hoped to be able to bring
her into the family homestead and provide not only for mother but also for the
lady in question. However, since the lady was six weeks away from being able to
qualify for social security herself – she decided to make do until she could
retire without any cares in the world.
The social security system itself
is an affront to the kinder, gentler love and affection that should be
encouraged within families in our time. For
all the monetary benefits provided by “the system” my whole extended family
would be much better off if we had the taxes deducted for security to spend, as
we would understand our responsibilities. And
without getting too specific, the incredible medical costs of living longer
today do not always increase the pleasantry and meaning of lives so long
endured. But then, I digress from
the politically correct understanding of the prosperity and progress that has
been attained in this wonderful society that we live in today.
The older I get, the more I appreciate the wisdom of the Creator in how
He would have us understand the Covenant of Life.
We will have to wait until the Lord comes again to judge the societal
management that has taken place since the New Deal was established.
Our third section in verses
eighteen to twenty-two concerns a definitely depraved child. Dr Brown again outlines the key issues in this section:
“the procedure
emphasizes that the Lord must be obeyed.”
“the offender
must be challenged.”
“the parents must
be supported.”
“the community must be protected.”
The nearest thing we have in our
society to this procedure is the three strikes law that proposes to lock away
professional criminals who are and always will be a threat to the safety of
everyone in the community. Some
Native Americans tribes would take such a young man on a hunting trip and simply
report the tragedy of a hunting accident. The
tomahawk in the back of the delinquent’s head would simply be buried with the
body. In ancient Roman times, the
father of the family literally had the right to execute any child that
displeased him. The biblical
admonition does not go that far, the community of local judges must be consulted
before the any such extreme punishment could be performed. We still have procedures to identify incorrigible children,
as I learned in my years in public service.
The worst that may happen today is the removal of such delinquents from
the home for the protection of the family and their assignment to court
supervision. Unfortunately, in many
places – wherever these wards of the state are placed, the “adoptive
families” may not discipline the young people, as they really ought to be
able. In many cases this is
precisely that meaningful ordering of their lives that the delinquents need so
well before they become uncontrollable adults requiring permanent incarceration.
Years ago, I took a young man out
into the hall to discipline; since he was unwilling to listen, I had to send him
to the administration. Just before
I walked back into the room a loud crack from the nearby construction lab was
heard. As I walked through the
door, I spanked my hands together in frustration – the class looked at me in
the strangest way and behaved well for the rest of the hour.
Only after lunch, when they found out where their friend had been did one
of them come up and gush out how relieved they were that I had not smacked him
up against the wall the way it sounded in the room!
I admitted that I had been born thirty years too late; I could just
barely remember when male teachers could maintain peace in the community by such
discipline. Whether they truly did
or not, just the thought that they could and would prevented a lot of
unnecessary discipline! And when I entered the US Army in the sixties, the Drill
Instructors were complaining about congressional legislation that prevented them
from improving the attitude of some of our young men given into their care by
the local police and sheriff departments.
Please understand I am not
promoting a return to what some presume to be an unregulated barbarity common in
many places in the Third World. I
am only saying that the possibility of fair and just punishment from parents and
community went a lot further in conditioning the younger generation than we will
ever realize in our modern undisciplined culture.
You see, crime prospers in a society where punishment and accountability
are dirty words. One of my
commentators notes that he was not aware of any place in the Old Testament where
this procedure was affected, but just the possibility for young minds to
contemplate is usually enough to warrant the record here mentioned.
Our final section concerns the
executed criminal. Dr Brown notes: “When
an execution had to take place within the Israelite community, the people were
not at liberty to inflict further emotional pain on the victim’s family.”
The body of the criminal must be buried before the day of
execution was over. While the
holiness of the land is in view here, so are the humanitarian concerns as well. In a natural rural environment, carnivore and carrion birds
could gather for an unexpected feast. Thus,
for the very obvious reason that such wildlife should not acquire a taste for
humans as well as the more humane understanding outlined by Dr Brown – the
body was to be immediately buried.
New
Covenant Continuum:
While this chapter was not mentioned in Vern Poythress’ book The
Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses, We do sense in the pathos of suffering
described, the paternal concerns of One whose own Son was accused unfairly,
railroaded in a illegal star chamber court, and cursed by being hung upon a
Roman cross. At the very least we
may see here the ultimate provisional purpose that the last regulation served in
moving the body of our Lord Jesus Christ into the grave in a timely manner so
that all things might transpire according to God’s providential plan.
If we gain sense any shame or
scorn from the legal procedures we have just surveyed, than our angst for them
being worked out against One who was completely innocent should be multiplied by
the righteous indignation that we should know for the very Son of God suffering
the death of a mere human. The Old
Covenant tells us that we should be outraged whenever a human life is lost.
How much more should we be outraged that the very life of God in Christ
was taken illegally outside of and beyond the provisions the Covenant
jurisprudence?
Contemporary
Application: Dr
Brown notes “The apostle Paul reflected on these
particular verses from Deuteronomy when he was writing about the death of
Christ. God’s Son hung upon the
cross as a common criminal. He
suffered a death he did not deserve and bore the punishment for our sins.”
That fact should, if we are civilized according to having lived under the
Great Covenant, cause us no end of anxiety.
After all, the Law and the Gospel are being carefully considered here in
our themes for today. Not only does
the Creator God insist that the very least of His human creations be treated
carefully and with respect to their very lives, but also, if we would have any
healthy respect and concern for His law – that His own flesh and blood should
have been tried under the same minimal conditions that He demands for us.
But, as we all know from the
scriptural record – the law of God must be broken to effect the death of
Christ, who died so that our final judgment may be one of grace rather than one
of law. Thus we see that as poor
sinful creatures unwilling to live according to the law and unable to merit by
doing so, any chance at eternity – we have become the blest of the ages
through the death of the One who died that we might have life eternal. Praise the Lord for the providential working out of these
legal subtleties to make our salvation possible in this life and for eternity.
Amen.
Resources Used:
Brown, Raymond.
The Bible Speaks
Today: The Message of Deuteronomy.
Craigie, Peter C.
New International Commentary:
Book of Deuteronomy.
Wright,
Christopher J.H.
New International Biblical Commentary: Deuteronomy.
The
Geneva Study Bible:
The Holy Bible: New King James Version.
Copyright
(C) 2002
Christ Covenant Reformed (Presbyterian Church in America)
03 February 2002 Box 13926 - Columbus, Ohio 43213-8049
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